The Devils finally found their first punch.
After coming up empty on the opening goal in each of their first games, New Jersey flipped the script in Detroit and walked out with a 5-4 overtime win over the Red Wings. It took constant answers, a few lineup tweaks, and a huge night from Jack Hughes, but the Devils kept matching every Detroit push until the game broke their way in OT.
A shuffle up front helped set the tone, especially with Luke Evangelista out because of illness. Head coach Sheldon Keefe reunited the Meier-Hischier-Mercer line, but the move that really paid off was putting Anthony Mantha on the third line with Evan Rodrigues and Stefan Noesen. That group did what New Jersey had been chasing for five straight games: it scored first.
Just six minutes into the opening period, Noesen set up Rodrigues for his first goal as a Devil, a slot finish past John Gibson that gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead. The line brought exactly the kind of edge the Devils needed - forecheck pressure, veteran calm, and some badly needed depth scoring.
Mantha later joined the party with his first goal in a Devils sweater, tying the game at two in the second period. Rodrigues started that sequence by moving the puck up ice toward Dawson Mercer, and Mantha buried the snap shot. The instant chemistry there was hard to miss, and it could easily carry over into more looks together.
What stood out even more than the scoring was the way New Jersey kept responding. Detroit tied the game again and again, but the Devils never let one swing derail them.
After Mantha’s goal, Nico Hischier tipped in a backhand on the power play three minutes later for his third power-play goal of the season. That goal pushed him into a tie with Travis Zajac and Bobby Holik for the third-most goals in franchise history.
The back-and-forth kept going. Bratt put the Devils back on top at 4-3, then Alex DeBrincat answered late in regulation to drag the game into overtime.
But unlike some earlier nights, New Jersey didn’t lose its grip after giving up a lead. The team kept creating pressure, kept attacking in transition, and finally got rewarded when Bratt sprang Hughes for the breakaway winner.
And Hughes was everywhere.
He logged 23:31, leading Devils forwards in ice time, and finished with three points for his best game of the season so far. His first assist came on Hischier’s power-play goal, as Hughes streaked through the neutral zone to help create the chance that made it 3-2. His second assist arrived six minutes later when he worked the puck off Dougie Hamilton’s rebound, with Jonas Siegenthaler eventually finding Bratt for the finish.
The speed was obvious all night. Hughes ranks in the 97th percentile with 71 speed bursts between 18 and 20 miles per hour, and he also sits near the top of the league’s forwards in shots on goal with 25 and most miles skated per game at 4.69.
Against Detroit, he piled up 18 shot attempts, 11 scoring chances, five high-danger chances, and eight shots. Then in overtime, he did the simplest and most damaging thing a star can do: took the breakaway and ended it.
New Jersey now turns right back around for Thursday night’s matchup with the Rangers at Prudential Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM ET in the Devils’ first meeting with their Hudson River rivals this season.
In Other News...
Senators Rough Night At Home Just Raised A Bigger Concern
A three-game winning streak disappeared in a hurry at home Tuesday night, and the Senators never found much of a foothold in a 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Ottawas offense was limited to goals from Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund, part of a night in which the club generated only 17 shots and spent too much time chasing the game.
The bigger concern, though, was at the other end, where Samuel Ersson made his first home start for Ottawa and was quickly overwhelmed. The backup goaltender gave up seven goals on 26 shots, leaving the Senators with an unsettling result that went well beyond a single bad outing and into the kind of performance that can start asking harder questions about the overall direction of the team. [Read more 🡒]
Ottawa Letting Leevi Merilainen Go Looks Tougher By The Week
Leevi Merilainen keeps giving Vancouver a reason to lean on him, and the latest example came in a game against the New York Islanders. With Thatcher Demko sidelined, the young goaltender stepped into a bigger role and helped keep the Canucks competitive even after they gave up two quick goals late in the first period.
Merilainen finished with 35 saves as Vancouver clawed back to tie it in the second period before the Islanders pulled away in the third. For Ottawa, which let Merilainen get away, the early returns keep making that decision look harder to justify each time he gets a meaningful chance to play. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Blue Line Still Has A Problem As Injuries Keep Lingering
In a stretch where injuries keep reshaping lineups across the Atlantic Division, the Senators are watching their own health picture closely after Ridly Greig exited a recent game with a strain. Ottawa has not offered a firm update on his status, which adds another layer of uncertainty at a time when the club is already tracking absences elsewhere around the division, including Buffalo being without Rasmus Dahlin, Tyson Kozak and Alex Lyon for its next game against Toronto.
For Ottawa, Greigs availability matters because he has been a regular part of the mix this season, taking on meaningful minutes and contributing in a supporting role. The concern now is less about one game than about whether the Senators will be able to keep their forward group intact as Philadelphia continues to deal with blue-line injuries and the ripple effects of these lineup holes keep growing. [Read more 🡒]